The Republican presidential debates began with 17 contenders seeking to win the GOP nomination for president. They ended with Fox News cancelling the final one after all three candidates told the network they were not showing up.

Front-runner Donald Trump signaled the demise of Monday’s scheduled debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, when he announced Wednesday morning on Fox and Friends he was not going to attend, citing a speech he was giving Monday to a major pro-Israel lobbying group. Ohio Gov. John Kasich then followed suit. The campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz then told the media it was not showing up to have the senator debate himself.

Representatives for the Salt Palace, where the debate was scheduled to be held, confirmed the event was cancelled on the heels of phone calls between Fox News and the Republican National Committee.

“We’re sorry it’s not happening,” said Bruce Hough, the Republican National Committeeman for Utah.

Fox News sent Western Journalism the following statement from Michael Clemente, EVP of News:

“On Feb. 20, the Republican National Committee announced that a GOP presidential primary debate would be held on March 21 in Salt Lake City. They offered that debate to Fox News Channel to host, provided there were enough candidates actively campaigning. This morning, Donald Trump announced he would not be participating in the debate. Shortly afterward, John Kasich’s campaign announced that without Trump at the debate, Kasich would not participate. Ted Cruz has expressed a willingness to debate Trump or Kasich — or both. But obviously, there needs to be more than one participant. So the Salt Lake City debate is cancelled.”

One analyst suggested Trump is skipping the debate because he no longer needs it.

” … debates are unpredictable — the kind of thing that a front-runner gobbling up delegates doesn’t need. The real estate magnate surely doesn’t want to participate in more debates than he has to; if he feels that the nomination is in the bag, or close to it, why would he volunteer for an event that won’t showcase his strengths?” wrote Callum Borchers in The Washington Post.

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“Trump’s critics will say he’s afraid of (Fox News reporter Megyn) Kelly or of Ted Cruz in a three-man format with only one other rival. That might be true, in part. But the bigger reason Trump is skipping is that he simply doesn’t think he needs to be there. He thinks he’s already done enough to set up a general election showdown with Hillary Clinton. And he’s probably right,” Borchers wrote.

Gov. John Kasich also decided not to attend the debate, though he said he would reconsider if Trump changed his mind. Cruz, of course, will also not attend as he is “not interested in debating himself,” CBS News reported.